Pulse oximeters are used to indirectly measures the amount of oxygen in a patient's blood and for measuring the pulse of a patient. Furthermore, they can be used to measure changes in blood volume in the skin, producing a photoplethysmograph. Pulse oximeters are usually attached to a medical monitor so staff can see a patient's oxygenation at all times. Most monitors also display in addition the heart rate.
A pulse oximeter is a particularly convenient non-invasive measurement instrument. Typically it has a pair of small light-emitting diodes (LEDs) facing a photodiode through a translucent part of the patient's body, usually a fingertip or an earlobe. One LED is red, with wavelength of approximately 660 nm, and the other is infrared, using a wavelength of approximately 905, 910, or 940 nm. Absorption at these wavelengths differs significantly between oxyhemoglobin and its deoxygenated form, therefore from the ratio of the absorption of the red and infrared light the oxy/deoxyhemoglobin ratio can be calculated.
The monitored signal is modulated by the heart beat because the arterial blood vessels expand and contract with each heartbeat. Oximeters are furthermore subject to various interferences. For example, ambient light, in particular light emitted from fluorescent lighting, can introduce a significant interfering signal. Capacitive coupling in the patient cable between the LED wires and the detector wires is also a large source of additional errors. Generally on the rising and falling edges of the LED voltage an impulse current appears in the detector lines due to this capacitive coupling.